>> wow. that is going to do it for us. tonight on "world news" -- fallout -- more state secrets exposed by wikileaks. the u.s. denounces the founder of wikileaks but he fires back. freeze -- president obama says no pay raises for 2 million federal workers, a drastic move to deal with the deficit. fountain of youth -- researchers discover how to reverse the effects of aging in mice, but what does that teach about people? and funny man -- remembering leslie nielsen. whose career forced a turn from serious to silly, and surely left us all laughing. good evening. good to be back with you. after the holidays. and we begin tonight with more secrets exposed today. as, once again, the wikileaks

organization published hundreds more internal government documents and said there are 250,000 more to come. they are highly sensitive documents, never meant to be read by the public, let alone the world leaders who were criticized or ridiculed. they also expose backstage dealings from iran to iraq, from the koreas to the kremlin. we wanted to know what in them is dangerous for the u.s. and what is merely embarrassing. so john karl has been poring over the pages today and we go straight to you tonight, john, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, diane. well, the diplomatic community has been rocked by all this. and i am told tonight that the secretary of state has reached out to the leaders of no fewer than 2 dozen nations as this administration tries to do damage control. as once secret u.s. documents dominate headlines around the world, secretary of state clinton today lashed out at wikileaks. >> it puts people's lives in danger, threatens our national security and undermines our efforts to work with other

countries to solve shared problems. >> reporter: the latest documents released today shed more light on the administration's efforts to close the guantanamo prison camp. saudi arabia's king is quoted suggesting that computer chips be implanted in released prisoners so they can be tracked, as he points out, as sometimes done with horses and falcons. obama national security official john brennan dismisses the idea saying, horses don't have good lawyers. the most troubling of the wikileaks revelations fall into three categories -- the damaging -- none more so than one recounting a meeting in january between general petraeus and the president of yemen, where the u.s. has conducted several secret drone attacks on suspected al qaeda targets. we'll continue saying the bombs are our, not yours, yemen's president tells petraeus. at that point, another yemeni official at the meeting jokes that he had just lied by telling parliament that yemeni forces had carried out the attack. all this potentially undermines

a key u.s. ally. others are less damaging but still harmful. such as those revealing confidential discussions with arab leaders urging the u.s. to take action to stop iran's nuclear program. in one about the iranian government, the king of saudi arabia is quoted as urging the u.s. to, quote, cut off the head of the snake. finally, there are the simply embarrassing, especially those offering all too candid descriptions of foreign leaders. one says russian president dimitri medvedev plays robin to mr. putin's batman. french prime minister sarkozy is called an emperrer with no clothes. italian prime minister berlusconi, feckless, vain and ineffective. north korea's kim jong-il, a flabby old chap. embarrassing to be sure, but not a threat to national security. >> in my conversations, at least one of my counterparts said to me, well, don't worry about it, you should see what we say about you. >> reporter: today, attorney

general eric holder said that crimes have been committed with these leaks. and, diane, he announced that the justice department has launched an investigation to try to figure out how it all happened and to hold those responsible accountable. >> well, thanks, john. of course, that's the question asked all day long, how could this happen? at the center of it all, of course, the mysterious, defiant editor in chief, julian assange, who considers himself a revolutionary, while others condemn him as reckless about innocent human life. he has been behind doors today but he e-mailed with our jim sciutto. who is in london tonight. jim. >> reporter: that's right, diane. we heard from assange from a secret location here in the uk they call a bunker, where dozens of wikileaks employees are working virtually 24/7, and in the process, taking on the most powerful government in the world. today the man spreading the leaks, julian assange, told us why he did it. in an e-mail to us, he writes, every american schoolchild is taught that george washington could not tell a lie.

if citizens in a democracy want their governments to reflect their wishes, they should ask to see what's going on behind the scenes. but we asked him to answer to those who say the releases endanger the lives of u.s. government sources. in an e-mail tonight, he responded, u.s. officials have, for 50 years, trotted out this line when they're afraid the public is going to see how they really behave. the facts are that we wrote the state department asking for a list of any specific concerns. they refused to assist. assange himself is a former computer hacker turned professor professional whistle blower. his last releases of leaked materials revealed embarrassing missteps in afghanistan and iraq. what drives you? >> i'm a combative person. i like crushing bastards. so it is deeply personally, personally deeply satisfying to me. >> reporter: working in secrecy, he hides the location of computer servers to ward off cyberattack and hides his own location, moving and changing names and e-mail addresses to ward off arrest.

he already faces one warrant in sweden for alleged sexual assault, a charge he denies. prosecution under the espionage act in australia. and today, u.s. attorney general eric holder said he's the subject of an active ongoing investigation for endangering government sources. james ball works for wikileaks. did wikileaks approach this release differently? >> this new release is being staged. each cable that's published has been reviewed and redacted. and that will continue for the future releases. >> reporter: i asked assange who he's targeting with this release, and he wrote a few moments ago, lying, corrupt and murderous leadership from bahrain to brazil. and, diane, he added, we're only 1,000th of the way in, so much more to come. >> so much more to come. and jim, of course, everyone asking how they got in his hands. and you may remember the 22-year-old soldier, private

first class bradley manning, suspected of passing on the documents to wikileaks. he was hooked into the document's network through his job as one of many intelligence analysts. tonight, manning is in custody. new clues about his possible methods and motives. and here's terry moran. >> reporter: since july, private first class bradley manning has been held in a military brig in quantico, virginia, charged with releasing this classified video of a 2007 helicopter attack in iraq that killed two reuters journalists. now, manning could face the most serious potential charges. >> if we can demonstrate that a death occurred as a result of these activities, these could face both life in prison and potentially the death penalty. >> reporter: but how did an army private at a forward operating base in iraq get access to the country's trove of diplomatic secrets from around the world? it was all part of the post-9/11 intelligence reforms that made sharing intelligence information a priority. >> too many people had access. 600,000 people have access to

this classification network. that is absurd. >> reporter: and experts say it could have been prevented. >> lots of private companies and government ministries and agencies have software that will alert when someone is downloading information. you shouldn't be able to do this without an alarm going off. >> reporter: why did he do it? adrian lamo, a convicted computer hacker who befriended manning and then alerted the fbi about his activities, says part of the motivation was fame. >> he struck me as a fairly humble person but one who wanted approbation for his actions, who wanted to be recognized. >> reporter: but in his online chats with lamo before his arrest, manning said he hoped his leaks would provoke worldwide discussion, debates and reforms. i want people to see the truth. tonight, government officials say they have put into place reforms that would make another

leak like this very difficult to accomplish. bradley manning is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation to see if he is mentally fit to stand trial. as for others, possible co-conspirators, even higher-ups who may have been negligent, the investigation is ongoing. >> thank you, terry moran. so many cautionary warnings inside this story. we move on to another question of national security tonight -- the teenager accused of plotting to explode a car bomb during the christmas tree lighting in portland, oregon, he was indicted today. 19-year-old mohamed osman mohamed caught in an fbi sting reportedly said he chose oregon because no one thought about oregon. he's a somali american who attended oregon state university and police were tipped off by the muslim community. mohamed smiled as he walked into the hearing and he pled not guilty. in afghanistan today, six american troops were killed in a brazen attack. a gunman in an afghan police uniform opened fire on the troops in a remote area near the pakistan border.

and back in washington, president obama took a step to scale back government spending today, telling more than 2 million federal employees he's freezing their pay for the next two years. saying their sacrifice is needed to help control the deficit. this comes just as the president prepares for a big meeting with congressional leaders, including the republicans, about to take control of the house. here's jake tapper. >> reporter: to help get the deficit under control, president obama this morning proposed a two-year pay freeze for all civilian federal workers. >> i did not reach this decision easily. this is not just a line item on a federal ledger. these are people's lives. >> reporter: the freeze would impact almost 2 million civilian employees in the expanding federal workforce, a favorite target of conservatives in the elections earlier this month. >> i would freeze federal hiring. i would maybe reduce federal employees by 10%. i'd probably reduce their wages

by 10%. >> reporter: federal employees with whom we spoke today had mixed feelings about the president's proposal. >> how are we going to make it? it's going to be very hard. >> if it's going to help the economy and help other people who don't have, it's a small sacrifice. >> reporter: the national debt is currently $13.8 trillion with this year's deficit projected to be $1.3 trillion. this pay freeze would save just a fraction of that, $2 billion over the next fiscal year. $5 billion over the next two years. >> it's more symbolic than substantive. it's a signal that the president is going to go to the american people and say "we need to address our long-term fiscal problems," and he can't do that unless he has federal employees go first. >> reporter: the co-chairs of the president's debt commission have already suggests ways to start reducing the debt. they reacted positively to the president's announcement today. >> i think it is a step in the right direction. it is obviously in line with what we are recommending. >> little things like this, you know, a pebble in the ocean maybe but this is a start. >> reporter: the president today was sporting stitches in his bottom lip, a basketball injury from friday. >> although washington is

supposed to be a town of sharp elbows, it's getting a little carried away. >> reporter: but that elbow to the mouth may end up feeling like a love tap if president obama goes forward with some of those draconian spending cuts and tax increases proposed by the co-chairmen of his debt commission, diane. their next report is due on wednesday. diane. >> thank you, jake. and another economic vital sign tonight, in the news about how much americans have started to shop for the holidays. all across the country, shoppers spent a day flooding websites and it happened over the thanksgiving weekend. the total spending in stores and online, $45 billion. and as we said, it's still under way. abc's becky worley is in phoenix where all those packages are starting to move out. >> reporter: packages wrapping, conveyor belts humming and gifts making their way all across the country. at this amazon facility, they'll send over a quarter of a million packages today alone, and this

is just 1 of 25 different amazon distribution centers all throughout the country. and the cyber monday projections are even more impressive -- a 10% increase in online shoppers from the estimated 96.5 million who shopped on this day last year. they say as the cardboard boxes go, so goes the economy. what are the boxes telling you? >> the boxes are telling me it's cyber monday -- not only the boxes but the forklifts we hear in the background. it's a busy day. it's just huge for us. >> reporter: and while the orders are pouring in here from the web, they don't seem to be cannibalizing sales at the mall. the average brick and mortar shopper spent $365 this weekend and that's up $20 from last year. and if sales keep up, it could mean even better news. experts say many of the 600,000 new jobs created this holiday season could become permanent. >> we definitely plan on keeping some of these seasonal workers on for full-time jobs after the holidays. >> the job picture does look like it's gradually improving. the operative word is "gradually." >> reporter: one retail trend

that is exploding? mobile phone use. >> i can look up any store i want and they'll tell me. >> i check prices on my phone. >> there's so many apps out there, you can compare prices. >> reporter: 59% of cell phone users say their phones are crucial in the shopping process -- checking prices, finding inventory in nearby stores and making purchases. people are excited here. so far, so good. but the success of this shopping season won't be known until the busiest day of the year. the last day of free shipping, december 16th. diane. >> okay, becky. but at least some hopeful signs out there. still ahead on "world news" -- what do these mice reveal about turning back the clock in human life? and how a very funny man found his fame later in life. (announcer) no matter what life throws at you, you can take the heat. 'til it turns into heartburn, you've got what it takes: zantac. it's strong, fast lasting relief. so let them turn up the heat.

you can stop that heartburn cold: (sssssssss!!!) zantac. but my doctor told me that most calcium supplements... aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, soit can be absorbed ith or without food. citracal. [ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol to advil. to learn more and get your special offer, go to takeadvil.com. take action. take advil.

go to takeadvil.com. if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil. with eight times better wear protection than mobil 1. castrol edge. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. you won't believe your taste buds. you won't believe it's fiber. benefiber. clear, taste-free, and dissolves completely. what a beautiful way to get fiber everyday. that's the beauty of benefiber. what a beautiful way to get fiber everyday. thank you for calling usa pmy name peggy. peggy, yes, i'd like to redeem my reward points for a gift card. tell points please? 250,000. calculating...

ooh! answer: five fifty! 550 bucks?! 5 dollar, 50 cents. minus redeeming charge. leaving 50 cents. say what? happy time! what kind of program is this? want better rewards? switch to discover. america's number 1 cash rewards program. it pays to discover. and, now, eternal youth, is it in a cage around the corner? news tonight of a breakthrough for some pioneering mice. but we always wonder, what does a fountain of youth for rodents reveal for humans? here's sharyn alfonsi. >> i feel tremendous! >> reporter: in the movie "cocoon," it's a swimming pool that turns back the clock for a group of senior citizens. but now researchers have found a way not just to stop but reverse the aging process. the key is something called a telomere. we all have them. they're the tips or caps of your

chromo sowns, seen here in yellow. this is what it looks like in a young adult. as you grow older, the telomeres become damaged and frayed. as they stop working, we start aging and experiencing things like hearing and memory loss. scientist took mice who were prematurely aged, added an enzyme and essentially turned their telomeres back on. you can see it. before the enzyme. after. >> their brain function improved. their fertility was restored. it was a remarkable reversal of the aging process. >> reporter: look at this picture. the mouse on the right has bad skin, gray hair and is balding. but the one on the left had its telomeres flipped back on. >> and you can see that essentially you now have a dark coat color, that the hair is restored, and that the coat has a nice, healthy sheen to it. >> reporter: even more dramatic, the change in brain size. this is before. the mice had 75% of a normal brain, like a patient with severe alzheimer's. but after the telomeres were reactivated, the brain returns

to normal size. as for humans, while it is just one factor, scientists now say by looking at our blood cells and measuring those telomeres, you can get a better idea of how well you'll age. the longer the telomere, the better the chances for a more graceful aging. but as for tinkering with them and turning back our aging process, researchers say we still have a long way to go. sharyn alfonsi, abc news, new york. >> more long telomeres for everyone. coming up, weight watchers on a new way to think about calories. eings. and so does her back pain. that's two pills for a four hour drive. the drive is done. so it's a day of games and two more pills. the games are over, her pain is back, that's two more pills. and when she's finally home, but hang on, just two aleve can keep back pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rachel, who chose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels.

♪ to bring you a low-price medicare prescription drug plan called the humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. it's a new plan that covers both brand and generic prescriptions and has the lowest-priced national premium in the country of only $14.80 per month and in-store copays as low as $2. when you could save over $450 a year, you can focus on the things that really matter. ♪ go to walmart.com for details.

[ smack! ] [ smack! smack! smack! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum ta tum tum tums nothing works faster. but not for your eyes. they're still so tired-looking. with olay, challenge that with regenerist anti-aging eye roller. its hydrating formula with caffeine-conditioning complex perks up the look of eyes. it works in the blink of an eye. [ man ] if it was simply about money, every bank loan would be a guarantee of success. at ge capital, loaning money is the start of the relationship, not the end. i work with polaris every day. at ge capital, we succeed only when they do. whoo! awesome! yes! we've got to get you out of the office more often. ♪

my turn to drive. ♪ we learned today that this bare knuckle brawl in baseball not only got houston's andre johnson and tennessee's portland finnegan ejected from the game but fined $25,000 each. i said baseball, i meant football of course. neither player suspended. despite the bad sportsmanship, johnson's coach awarded him the game ball. after not counting calories over the thanksgiving holidays, do you still have a little bowl of stuffing in the refrigerator? back to reality. for the first time in 13 years, weight watchers has changed its famous points system. before, all meals with equal calories were equal points. but now, even if the calories are the same, more fat, more points. more protein or fiber, fewer points. and to encourage everyone to choose that 100 calorie apple over a 100 calorie bag of chips, fruits and veggies are now zero

points. and something to think about during this season of giving -- a french electrician claims after doing some handiwork for pablo picasso the painter gave him a little gift. 271 pieces of art worth an estimated $80 million. including nine cubist collages, collages and water colors from the blue period. the paintings are authentic. but the late artist's family questions whether they were really a gift. it took the electrician nearly 40 years to come forward which meant that the statute of limitations for theft had expired. coming up, surely you can't be serious? your memories of his punch lines. if anything, i thought i'd get hit by a bus, but not a heart. my doctor put me on an aspirin regimen to help protect my life. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. check with your doctor because it can happen to anybody.

[ man thinking ] i'm so stuffed with gas. ohh, noo, not that! not, not here! [ male announcer ] prevent uncomfortable gas moments with gas-x prevention. just one before meals helps prevent gas before it starts. from gas-x, the gas-xperts. that saves you hundreds of dollars a year. it's called the new humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. ♪ it's a breakthrough in medicare prescription drug plans. hey buddy! hey grandpa! with monthly plan premiums less than $15 and copays as low as $2. but for savings this big, visit walmart.com or call 1-800-808-4003. introducing the new humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. a medicare prescription drug plan that's a step forward in health care... and a step forward in affording the things that really matter. but don't forget, you can only save if you enroll by december 31st. ♪ call humana to take advantage

of the medicare prescription drug plan with the lowest national premium in the country. go to walmart.com for more details. ♪ ah, it's stinging a little bit more than usual! yeah, you'll get used to it. the longer you keep your high mileage car, the more it pays you back. get castrol gtx high mileage. it helps engines last longer by fighting the main causes of engine failure. i think a dime went up my nose. yeah, it happens. don't change your car. change your oil to castrol gtx high mileage. its more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. yeah.

aww...that oj needs alka-seltzer plus. fast powder packs are a taste-free fizz-free way to transform your drink into a powerful cold fighter! there's a cold front moving in, but relief is on the way. leslie nielsen liked to say he was a closet comedian who after three decades as a leading man reinvented himself as the court jester. a second act he called too good to be true. he died in his sleep at the age of 84 but lives on in movies like "airplane" and "naked gun." as john berman reports. >> reporter: leslie nielsen didn't just make jokes, he made indelible comic memories. >> can you fly this plane and land it?

>> surely, you can't be serious. >> i am serious. and don't call me shirley. >> don't call me shirley. >> don't call me shirley. >> don't call me shirley. >> reporter: this canadian actor was already 54 years old when he appeared in "airplane." and set a new standard for dead pan. basketball legend kareem abdul-jabbar was his co-star. >> leslie nielsen was a great comedic actor and he found that niche rather late in his career but he was totally ready for it and did a remarkable job. >> reporter: with those looks, nielsen spent the first decades of his career as a leading man. >> i don't know. it was just some kind of big outline. >> are you a doctor? >> that's right. >> reporter: but "airplane" gave him a chance to break out. then "police squad" on tv. and finally "the naked gun." >> take a look for yourself. >> i can't see anything.

>> use your open eye, frank. >> oh, yeah, i can see it now. >> reporter: after his stunning and unexpected success in comedy -- >> you better tell the captain we've got to land as soon as we can. this woman has to be gotten to a hospital. >> a hospital? what is it? >> it's a big building with patients but that's not important right now. >> reporter: nielsen remarked, i'm finally getting to do what i wanted to do. which meant what we got to do was laugh. >> please disperse. nothing to see here, please. >> reporter: john berman, abc news, new york. >> a great second act. we'll see you right back here tomorrow night.h@ an armed stand offin santa cruz. how police captured a convict who escaped during a visit to the hospital. >> why authorities filed criminal charges against a owner of a company that rents out goats to clear hill sides of brush. >> and vandals strike a school

once again. see what they got way with this time you have a zero percent interest deal y is the dank charging interest? coming up on 7 on your side a problem is solved. >> good evening, we're going to begin with a manhunt in santa cruz it started this morning. a 24-year-old overpowered a deputy after a hospital visit, taised her, then took off. the neighborhood locked down this after the noon. and in santa cruz tonight. >> reporter: this ordeal ended with no one being shot, no one killed. now, police say ainsworth was arrested this afternoon. we're now being told he was found inside of a home that was vacant. an army of law enforcement agents surrounded this neighborhood looking for maurice